I have big news to report from the front lines of our current campaign to protect wind in 2015.

And though there’s bad news and good news — it all points to how critical your voice is going to continue to be in our fight for clean, homegrown energy.

Here’s what’s happening now:

As you know, a few weeks ago, when Congress began negotiating the terms of a bill that could make a huge difference in bringing affordable wind power to American families in 2015, we launched a nationwide campaign to support it.

However, we weren’t the only ones reaching out to Congress. Anti-wind organizations have been fired up beyond any opposition we’ve seen before. They ’ve been spending millions of dollars and writing messages to legislators urging them to leave wind policy out of this bill.

Late last week — we started to see the impact of our opponents’ attacks, and our own efforts to defend wind. By a vote of 378 to 46, the House voted to pass H.R. 5771, a bill that proposed to extend multiple tax incentives through the end of this year, including two common-sense energy policies – the production tax credit and investment tax credit.

The bad news is, this extension falls short of what we were pushing for. We wanted to see a two-year extension, which would make a huge difference in providing more clean and affordable energy to Americans than ever before.

The good news is — your voice preserved common-sense wind policies through this year. At a time when our opponents were fighting to eliminate wind policy, we powered through and gained an extension of the wind policies vital for clean energy growth.

The fight is not yet done, and we’ve proven that we can counter the well funded voices of the anti-wind movement. As the bill is expected to move on to the Senate for consideration this week, our campaign will carry on to ensure that American families can benefit from some pretty exciting wind power trends:

Wind power prices are coming down fast – In the past five years, the cost of wind power has dropped by over 50%—and is still decreasing!

Wind is reaching more and more families – Wind power has delivered a third of all new generating capacity over the past five years, and a record amount of new projects are under construction.

You and thousands of others are the reason common-sense wind policy can carry on. In these past three weeks, you’ve helped us exceed our goal – placing over 52,000 calls and emails in that short time!

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Dave Loebsack released the following statement today after the House of Representatives passed HR 5771, a One Year Tax Extenders Bill. The bill included a one year extension of the Production Tax Credit (PTC) for wind energy. Loebsack has been leading the fight in Congress to pass an extension of the PTC to give the wind industry, and the thousands of jobs in Iowa that it supports, the stability and certainty it needs.

“The extension of the PTC included in today’s bill is the bare minimum that we must do to support the thousands of jobs that the wind energy industry employs in Iowa alone. While I would have liked to see the PTC extended for at least two years, this current plan will provide some of the stability and predictability that the industry needs. Now is not the time to pull the rug out from under this home grown, clean energy.”

HR 5771 also includes tax extenders for teachers, small businesses, low-income families and farmers. The legislation will now proceed to the Senate for a vote.

“While I am pleased that the tax extenders bill finally passed the House, it should have been passed far sooner to provide certainty and stability. Iowa’s small businesses, farmers and working families deserve to have some confidence in their taxes system so they can plan for the future and make purchases. Passing Band-Aids at the last minute is no way to keep our nation’s economic system running. Iowans are demanding more from Congress and we owe it to them to work together to pass a long term bill and give people confidence in our economy.”

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Dave Loebsack announced today that three advanced biofuel producers in Clinton, Washington and Newton have received a total of $661,555 from the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Advanced Biofuel Payment Program. The funds, which were established in the 2008 farm bill, will be used to support the production advanced biofuels from sources other than corn kernel starch. Specifics of the grants are below.

“Iowa is a leader in creating homegrown, clean energy sources like advanced biofuels and this investment will help strengthen that tradition,” said Loebsack. “Small businesses are the back bone of Iowa’s economy. I am proud that this investment in Iowa businesses will help create jobs and grow the economy.”

ANKENY, Iowa – Reacting to today’s announcement from the Environmental Protection Agency that it will not finalize the 2014 Required Volume Obligations before the end of the year, Grant Kimberley, executive director of the Iowa Biodiesel Board, issued the following statement:

“At the news of this delay, we’re hopeful it could indicate that EPA might be taking the time to revise its proposal. An increased RVO for biomass-based diesel would mean good news for Iowa, the number one biodiesel-producing state. Uncertainty has hurt the biodiesel industry and created a ripple effect through the farming community, major ag suppliers and equipment companies. But the EPA has the chance to reverse this.

“The Proposed Rule as it stood would have taken biodiesel backwards from the volumes produced in 2013. The Administration has a chance to make it right by finalizing a 2014 rule that sets the Renewable Fuel Standard’s biomass-based diesel volumes at or above the nearly 1.8 billion gallons consumed in 2013. We also urge them to fix the RVO process so we don’t have to face this disruptive uncertainty every year. We need to put biodiesel back on the course of diversifying America’s fuel supply, supporting green jobs and boosting economic development.”

The Iowa Biodiesel Board is a nonpartisan state trade association representing the biodiesel industry.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today issued a statement following the announcement from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that they will not issue the 2014 Renewable Fuel Standard Volume Obligations before the end of the year.

“The Environmental Protection Agency threw the biofuels industry into chaos and confusion when it proposed lowering 2014 renewable fuel requirements from what we enacted into law. Now, the EPA will allow the uncertainty it created to linger on, saying 2015 is the soonest it will announce the amount of renewable fuel that is required to be blended and used in 2014. The EPA went astray when it gave credence to the notion there is some arbitrary limit to biofuels’ potential in our fuel supply. That is a wrong interpretation of the Renewable Fuel Standard, and the EPA must now issue renewable fuel requirements that meet the purpose and intent of the RFS to boost energy security and jobs while reducing fossil fuel use.”